This invention relates to header of a crop feed draper for a crop harvesting header.
A header for a crop harvesting machine generally comprises a main longitudinal support member in the form of an elongate tube which extends across substantially the full width of the header frame and defines a main structural member for the header frame. The tube carries a plurality of forwardly and downwardly extending support beams which include a first portion extending downwardly and a second portion attached to a lower end of the first portion and extending forwardly therefrom toward a forward end of the support beams. The cutter bar is attached to the forward end of the support beams and is thus held thereby in a position generally parallel to the main support tube.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,966 issued September 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,343 issued April 1991 by Patterson and assigned to the present Assignee is disclosed a header which utilizes two side drapers to transport the crop cut by the knife inwardly along the header table to a central discharge opening. The side drapers discharge onto a central feed draper which has a front roller just behind the knife and a rear roller at the feeder house of a combine harvester so as to carry the crop from the side drapers rearwardly into the feeder house for inlet into the combine harvester for processing.
While the present invention is described hereinafter in relation to the construction suitable for and designed for feeding crop into the feeder house of a combine harvester, the arrangements described and claimed herein can also be used on a crop harvesting header for feeding crop from the side drapers into a crop conditioning system located behind the discharge opening between the side drapers.
A rotary feed member which may carry auger flight portions is mounted at the discharge opening of the header above the feed draper so as to assist in carrying bulky crop through the discharge opening so as to be carried into the feeder house. The feed draper is carried on the rear roller which is attached to a feeder house and therefore the feed draper and its associated underlying pan flex and twist as the header floats relative to the feeder house.
While this arrangement has achieved considerable commercial success, it is desirable to improve the feed of the crop material from the side drapers into the feeder house particularly in relation to bulky crops such as soy beans.
A subsequent U.S. Patent which is U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,371 issued November 1995 by Honey discloses a similar arrangement in which the crop is transferred from the rear end of the feed draper into a rigid fixed adapter housing which is mounted on the front of the feeder house and contains the rotary feed member in the form of an auger with conventional feeding fingers. This arrangement therefore requires that the header is moved forwardly relative to the feeder house so as to provide the space necessary for the adapter housing and its rotary feed member contained therein.
Further commercial devices are manufactured by Deere and Company and Agco but it is believed that there are no patents disclosing the construction of these devices.
Such arrangements employing a central feed draper between two side drapers are also used in supplying the crop from the side drapers into a crop conditioner located behind the feed draper.
The term xe2x80x9cheaderxe2x80x9d as used commonly and as used in this specification is intended to include both headers carried on self propelled machines, which may therefore not include wheels mounted on the header itself, and headers which are towed behind a tractor and thus may include wheels attached to the header frame or to a component supporting the header.
In most cases drapers of this type include cleats or ribs which extend transversely across the width of the draper canvas at positions spaced periodically along the length of the draper canvas so that each cleat provides an upstanding wall or shoulder engaging the crop and providing a force on the crop sufficient to accelerate the crop to improve its movement with the draper canvas. Textured surfaces have been found to provide insufficient force on the crop to cause the necessary movement of the crop with the draper thus allowing slippage or blockages to occur.
Typically such cleats on drapers used for crop transportation in headers of the above type are simply raised ribs or bars attached to the outer surface of the canvas and extending along a line at right angles to the side edges of the canvas. Such cleats are often reinforced by a rod inside the molded material of the cleat, which is generally a resilient natural or synthetic rubber material.
One problem which arises with drapers of this type is that the guide rollers are required to have a sufficient diameter so as to reduce the forces on the cleat as it passes around the roller, bearing in mind the forces on the cleat particularly at its leading and trailing edges which tend to lift the cleat away from the draper surface when the diameter of the roller is too small. Up until now, therefore, rollers for drapers of this type have generally had a diameter of the order of 3 to 3.5 inches and the minimum diameter roller which has been used in the above header of MacDon is 2.25 inches in outside diameter.
It will be appreciated, however, that the use of a larger diameter roller increases the area necessary for receiving that roller and, in the construction defined above, limits the ability of the design to locate the roller forwardly underneath the side drapers in a manner closely adjacent to the cutter bar.
Attention is directed to related application Ser. No. 10/618,070, filed Jul. 14, 2003, filed simultaneously with this application which claims some aspects of the apparatus disclosed herein.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a header in which the transfer of crop from the side drapers to the center feed draper is improved.
According to the invention there is provided a crop harvesting header comprising:
a main frame structure extending across between two ends of the header across a width of the header for movement in a direction generally at right angles to the width across ground including a crop to be harvested;
a crop receiving table carried on the main frame structure across the width of the header;
a cutter bar across a front of the table carrying a cutter operable for cutting the crop as the header is moved forwardly across the ground for depositing the crop onto the table;
and a crop transport system for moving the cut crop toward a discharge location of the header;
the crop transport system including a crop transport draper having a first end roller, a second end roller parallel to and spaced from the first end roller and a draper canvas wrapped around the rollers for movement around the rollers longitudinally of the canvas in a crop transporting direction;
the draper canvas having on its outer surface a plurality of generally transversely extending longitudinally spaced cleats attached to the outer surface and extending outwardly therefrom for engaging the cop and providing a longitudinal force on the crop;
each cleat comprising a strip of resilient material attached to the outer surface such that the length of the strip is at an angle to a line at right angles to the longitudinal direction so that, as the strip passes around the rollers, one end of the strip passes around angularly in advance of the other end.
The term xe2x80x9ccanvasxe2x80x9d as used herein is not intended to be limited to nor to imply any particular material for the manufacture of the canvas since this is a term of art for the belt used in a draper.
Preferably each cleat comprises two strips of resilient material which are arranged at opposite angles to as to converge from outer ends of the strips adjacent sides of the canvas to an apex substantially on a center line of the draper canvas. However this construction is used to manufacture the draper in a symmetrical manner to provide effective tracking of the belt and may not be essential where other tracking arrangements are used. In these arrangements, the cleat may be inclined at a common angle across the full width of the canvas.
Preferably, to provide the best tracing and to avoid the formation of creases, the cleats are arranged on the canvas such that the apex is arranged in advance of the outer ends. However, again, this may be not be essential and the apex may trail.
Preferably the two strips are separated at the apex so as to leave a portion of the canvas at the center line which is free from the cleat. However again, this is not essential and the strips may be continuous across the width of the canvas and across the apex.
Preferably each cleat in cross-section is generally rectangular with a height greater than its width.
Preferably the angle is less than 15 degrees and preferably of the order of 5 degrees.
Preferably the canvas includes at least one end to end connection defined by two end portions of the canvas which are bent outwardly of the draper and connected together by threaded fasteners passing through the end portions to hold them connected and wherein the end portions are arranged at an angle to a line at right angles to the longitudinal direction so that, as the connection passes around the rollers, one end of the connection passes around angularly in advance of the other end.
Preferably the end connection is parallel to the cleats, that is it is inclined at the same angle and if the cleats are shaped to form the apex, the connector is shaped to form a symmetrical apex.
Preferably the end connection includes a plurality of pairs of separate reinforcing connectors each reinforcing connector having a pair of holes therein engaging onto a pair of the threaded fasteners which hold the pair of reinforcing connectors against the outside surfaces of the end portions, whereby the end connection can flex as it passes around the roller.
Preferably each reinforcing connector has a surface facing along the draper away from the end connection which is concave so as to match the convex surface of the roller.
The angled cleats are thus arranged to allow the cleats to pass over a roller which has an outer diameter less than 2.0 inches and more preferably as small as the order of 1.5 inches.
This arrangement of the draper and cleats is most particularly effective in a header where the crop transport system includes a first side draper having an outer end guide roller at a first end of the header, an inner end guide roller adjacent the discharge location and a continuous draper canvas wrapped around the outer and inner guide rollers to define a top run of the canvas for carrying the cut crop from the knife across the header to a discharge end adjacent the discharge location; and a second side draper having an outer end guide roller at a second end of the header, an inner end guide roller adjacent the discharge location and a continuous draper canvas wrapped around the outer and inner guide rollers to define a top run of the canvas for carrying the cut crop from the knife across the header to a discharge end adjacent the discharge location; wherein the crop transport draper comprises a feed draper located at the discharge location and including a front guide roller adjacent the cutter bar and a rear guide roller behind the front guide roller and a draper for carrying the crop material rearwardly toward a discharge opening of the header.
More particularly the arrangement may be one where the side drapers have a front edge at the cutter bar and the feed draper has a width greater than the spacing between the inner ends of the side drapers so as to extend underneath the inner ends of the side drapers with the front guide roller arranged close to the underside of the side drapers and to the cutter bar and the rear guide roller spaced away from the underside of the side drapers.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a crop harvesting header comprising:
a main frame structure extending across between two ends of the header across a width of the header for movement in a direction generally at right angles to the width across ground including a crop to be harvested;
a crop receiving table carried on the main frame structure across the width of the header;
a cutter bar across a front of the table carrying a cutter operable for cutting the crop as the header is moved forwardly across the ground for depositing the crop onto the table;
and a crop transport system for moving the cut crop toward a discharge location of the header;
the crop transport system including a crop transport draper having a first end roller, a second end roller parallel to and spaced from the first end roller and a draper canvas wrapped around the rollers for movement around the rollers longitudinally of the canvas in a crop transporting direction;
wherein the canvas includes at least one end to end connection defined by two end portions of the canvas which are bent outwardly of the draper and connected together by threaded fasteners passing through the end portions to hold them connected and wherein the end portions are arranged at an angle to a line at right angles to the longitudinal direction so that, as the connection passes around the rollers, one end of the connection passes around angularly in advance of the other end.